Spicy Mayan Brownies

December 19, 2007

Beautiful rich fudgey spicy brownies, inspired by Mayan spices and grains. These are dense and gooey - almost like a fudge. Sweet and rich, these are also packed with healthy fiber, cocoa, and sprouted seeds.

Fantastic! I made these using carob powder instead of cocoa, and omitted the honey, and was so pleased with the result. They were delicious, and completely satisfied my craving for the kind of sweet treats that my current dietary needs don't allow! My friends liked them too. Thanks for the great recipe!

I forgot! I also left out the brown sugar. Instead of the honey/sugar combo, I used a bit of stevia. The stevia and the carob provided just enough sweetness to compliment the spices. I may have added just a little liquid to make up for the honey.

!Fantastico!
Thanks so much for the feedback Kim. I love how your variation is sugar free - amazing how naturally sweet carbo is. Do you have any idea how much stevia you used? I'll have to try your variation once I have a kitchen again - I'm drifting around Mexico for the next little while...

To make these vegan, I used agave nectar (which also is a bit more Mexican it seems?) instead of honey; also increased the cayenne to ¼ tsp.
To balance the intense chocolate flavor and spices, I served them with a whipped topping of avocado and (soyatoo) cream, sprinkled with a pinch of cayenne.
What seemed like the weirdest brownie recipe one possibly could have dreamed of (I was looking for wheat-/gluten-free brownies, not expecting anything this good), turned out to be the most flavorful, gooeyiest brownies ever, so delicious!
Thank you for a pretty cool recipe.

Thanks for the super feedback :)
Honey is a lot more comon in Mexico than agave nectar - they tend to use all the agave for tequila I guess. ;) I've altered the recipe to include agave too - thanks. A whipped avacado topping sounds awesome - yum!

I made these today and they are amazing! Thanks for all of the great recipes, I love your site, I just newly discovered it. I didn't have allspice and am pregnant so am not supposed to have anise, so I substituted freshly ground cardamon and nutmeg, yum!

I'm new to gluten-free/dairy-free cooking - I plan on making these for a friend - and I'm wondering about substituting for butter. Here you list coconut oil, but could another oil (canola, corn) be used? Is there a reason why you recommend coconut specifically?

Hi and welcome :)
I like butter and coconut oil here because they both add to the flavour of the brownies. Since I can have some dairy, I usually make these with half butter and half coconut oil. Both of them are saturated fats, and solid at room/cooler temperatures, which helps make the fudgy consistency. If you want to use canola or corn oil, I think it would still work, but try reducing the quantity to 2Tbsp. Please let us know how it goes!

OOO looks yummy! I have a question though.. whenever i use succant my cookies or whatever im making always turn out flaky and dry and puffy... how do you get it to be chewy and gooey like you did? i dont use white sugar at all so i am looking for recipies like this one! Thanks so much!

Hi Tanya,
These are gooey because of the high amount of liquid (water, honey/agave, fat) as well the ground flax seeds lend to the gooeyness. (For recipes designed for regular brown or white sugar, when I've substituted sucanat in the past, I've noticed the same thing. I find including a bit of honey improves the texture.) Please let us know how it goes - happy healthy baking!